Budget/Financial

The Governor’s Recommended Budget for the next biennium was released in early December. Due to the recession, the state projects a $1.2 billion shortfall in revenue.  The budget includes cuts in many areas like community-mental health care and services to survivors of crime and violence.

Editorial boards of newspapers from across the state agree with Partnership for Safety and Justice. Measure 61 is yet another fatally flawed measure from Kevin Mannix while Measure 57 is the better alternative. Here is a list of editorial positions on these two measures from across Oregon.

With the ballots to go out in the mail in just a couple of weeks, the Bend Bulletin explains the fiscal and sentencing implications of Measure 57 and compares it to Measure 61.

The State of Montana incarcerates some state prisoners in county jails. The state will increase the amount it pays per prisoner in the Cascade County regional jail by $3.82 for a total of $52.82 per prisoner per day. The sheriff in Cascade County says that increase isn’t enough to cover the county’s costs.

The chemicals in methamphetamines cause rotten teeth, leaving some meth users in need of dentures in their 20s. The increasing incarceration of people addicted to meth means that dental expenses in prisons and jails are going up.